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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24916810">The price of freedom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesaturn/pseuds/bluesaturn'>bluesaturn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pride Month 2020 [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff, Identity Issues, M/M, Recovery, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:35:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24916810</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesaturn/pseuds/bluesaturn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A year after the revolution, North is still angry at the world. It’s Connor, of all people, that helps her through it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Connor &amp; North (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson/Connor, Original Chloe | RT600/North</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pride Month 2020 [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769089</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The price of freedom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A year after the revolution, North is still angry at the world. Unlike Connor's, her anger seems to linger, cling to her. She doesn't know if it's because Connor's nightmare only lasted for a week or if she just witnessed greater horrors then him. It stings all the same. </p>
<p>Connor’s suggestion to see a therapist seems outrageous to her at first. But somehow he manages to find an Android who has gone through some as the same horrors as her, who has chosen this as her new profession. North hates talking about it, but it helps. </p>
<p>Connor and her bond over the trauma of it all. They also bond over the more normal stuff, as North tries to figure out who she is, besides a survivor. North likes movies that make her feel calm and so does Connor. They watch an awful lot of them. </p>
<p>Markus teaches her how to paint and it’s a way to express herself that doesn’t involve punching humans in the face. It’s not quite as satisfying but it helps as well. Little by little she’s starting to see a person underneath all the pain. </p>
<p>Everyone else around here seems to find something redeemable in humans, something, well, humane. If not in humanity itself, then at least in singular humans. North wishes she could say the same. </p>
<p>To her personally, Humanity just feels like something that is rotten to the core. She's free to live now, free to do as she pleases, but sometimes she finds herself wondering if that freedom comes at too high a cost. </p>
<p>It's weird, how she's been looking for her freedom all her life, but now that she has it, she's unsure what to do with it.<br/>
Everyone else around is slowly starting to actually <i>live</i> now that they can. For her, it turns out to be the hardest part. It's probably why her friends keep trying to drag her into things like this.</p>
<p>
It feels weird to put Connor on her short list of friends, but it's true all the same. She doesn't quite trust him, still, but she's trying to get over that too. It's not his fault, what Cyberlife made him do. She's angry at the humans behind it, not Connor himself, it took her a long time to recognize that.
</p>
<p>
  She's sitting on a stool in a bar, sipping the drink Connor handed her, that won't get her drunk either way. North’s actually quite thankful for that, however, as she doesn't like to lose control. Terrible party music is drowning from the speakers around them, so loud that she takes a moment to adjust her audio processors, as not to hear it so clearly. 
</p>
<p>
 Connor is somewhere on the edge of that dance floor, moving to the beat of the music, an arm slung around his boyfriend's neck. The human looks about as happy as North feels to be there. But he dances with Connor all the same and it almost makes the ghost of a smile appear on North's face.
</p>
<p>
 "I'm in love with him."<br/>
Connor's voice still echoes in her ears. It had been such a hard concept to wrap her mind around.<br/>
An Android, in love with a human. North had hated it at first. She isn't sure if she doesn’t still, but it is such a rare thing to see Connor smile, teeth and all, that she doesn’t felt like holding onto it.
</p>
<p>
 The concept had seemed foreign to her in another way. Love. It was not something she imagined herself having, not in a million lifetimes. The thought alone seemed laughable, and yet, when Connor had looked at her and told her he wanted her to be just half as happy, as he was - she found herself… wondering.<br/>
The concept of love had seemed so foreign to her that she could hardly imagine a world in which she would ever be able to have it. It wasn't until she saw Connor fall in love, that she had seriously considered it. This right here had been Connor's suggestion and she isn’t certain it was the best idea. 
</p>
<p>
 They're sitting inside a gay bar and while it makes sense - part of her just can't imagine partying. But it's a part of being free, a part of what she wanted for so long. 
</p>
<p>
 It's strange how difficult it is to take it now, this newfound freedom, and actually enjoy being alive. For the longest time she had fought just to survive, it's still foreign to her that she gets to live and enjoy it. 
</p>
<p>
 Perhaps she just isn't a party person, but she should at least give it a shot to find out. She drowns the drink, like she's seen some of the humans around here do, and joins Connor and Hank on the dance floor.
</p>
<p>
 Dancing doesn't make any sense to her, not really, especially not with this music, but after a few minutes of the two of them whirling her around, she decides it might just be fun after all. 
</p>
<p>
 One move has her bumping into a girl that she didn't see behind her.<br/>
"Oh, I'm sorry," she mumbles and tries her best at a smile.<br/>
The girl is an Android, evident by the clear blue LED still on her temple. She's wearing a simple blue dress which looks lovely with her white-blond hair.<br/>
"Oh, it's alright," she answers with a polite smile.<br/>
And well. North is here to meet new people, so she hesitates only for a moment before holding out her hand for a handshake.<br/>
"I'm North, by the way."
</p>
<p>
 Not that she has any illusion that anyone wouldn't know who she is these days. Her face had been plastered all over TV stations for weeks on end. Perhaps one of the smallest prices she had to pay for her freedom.
</p>
<p>
 "I'm Chloe," the girl says and that makes her pause for a second, remembering a story Connor had told her some time ago.<br/>
"Wait, <i>the</i> Chloe?", she asks and stares in Connor's direction. Chloe is following her look.<br/>
"That would be the one."
</p>
<p>
 She looks so shy and unsure of herself still and the thought of what Kamski had done to her makes North feel angry. She's glad she's save now, at least. Still, if she ever does see the bastard - not the time to think about it. 
</p>
<p>
 "Hm. Do you wanna dance?", she asks and even manages a small smile when Chloe nods.<br/>
Connor gives her a thumbs-up as he sees her dancing with Chloe and she sticks her tongue out at him in response. 
</p>
<p>
 "I think I like this place," Chloe says.<br/>
"Yeah, I think I do too", North agrees, as she looks at Chloe.<br/>
It's still hard to imagine, but dancing in that club, with Chloe in her arms and moving absolutely out of beat - it doesn't seem like such a faraway dream. Maybe after everything she's been through, a little happiness is exactly what she needs. Maybe after everything, she's been through, it's exactly what she deserves.
</p>
<p>
 She often thinks back to that night, years later. How glad she is for it. She even thanks Connor for being a pain in her ass in the speech she gives at his and Hank's wedding. North thinks part of her will always hate humanity. Part of her will always feel broken. Part of her will always be angry. And maybe that’s okay. 
</p>
<p>
  But with everyone and everything she has in her life, the moments where she feels alive and happy are so plentiful, they often make her forget about all the pain. And really, that's more than she would ever have hoped for.<br/>
(Connor is a pain in the ass when he gives a speech at her’s and Chloe's wedding as well, but North finds she doesn't particularly mind.)
</p>
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